The safest place for an animal is its natural habitat

not a zoo
It is false to claim that captive breeding protects endangered species
Talking of campaigns by our charity to phase out the keeping of animals
in captivity, Dartmoor zoo owner Ben Mee says: "Actually, I can see their
point; I don't particularly like looking at animals behind wire either"
(Battle for survival, 31 August). He then adds the usual caveat: "But, as
a zoo director, I understand that it is absolutely essential that we keep
them there."
Are zoos really essential? Ben talks about them "protecting as many
endangered species as possible". Yet of the 51 mammal and bird
species at his zoo only seven are classed as threatened by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Zoos claim to be safer places for animals than their natural habitats. Mee
questions whether it is "fair" to reintroduce a jaguar, because of not only
the dwindling rainforest but also the impact "on the people who live and
farm there". This view is highly dangerous for conservation, and many
field scientists consider captive breeding to give a false impression that
species are safe and that natural habitats don't need protecting. I can
only hope Mee was joking when he suggested building "biospheres on
the moon, stocked with tigers, safe from poaching".
Despite its claims, Dartmoor zoo itself has been responsible for killing
animals deer, as a result of "overpopulation", and a wolf who was
ostracised by the pack, for example. More sinister is the line pushed by
international zoo bodies that hybrid animals should be killed such as
three tiger cubs at a German zoo recently because they use resources
that could be spent on pure-bred animals. The Mee family bought the
zoo without any prior experience, so not surprisingly Ben found it "harder
than I thought" so hard that its operating company has gone into
liquidation despite a TV deal and a planned Hollywood film. Let's hope
they haven't started a trend for wealthy people with no experience to buy
ailing zoos Anna Ryder Richardson followed in their footsteps by
getting a TV series based on her buying a zoo in Wales.

Mee talks about the alleged good work of members of the zoo-trade
body, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria (Biaza).
Twice in the past year, we in the Captive Animals' Protection Society
have exposed the practices of member zoos. One had a tiger-breeding
programme with the owner of the country's most controversial animal
circus. The other was locking lions inside for up to 18 hours a day. Biaza
revoked membership of the zoo connected to a circus but not the one
keeping lions confined in a building that, according to government
inspectors, had "no visible environmental enrichment" and "clear signs of
substantial fighting". So how can Mee say we have "some of the highest
standards of husbandry anywhere in the world"?
We need to urgently recognise that conservation means the protection
and restoration of natural habitats, not keeping animals in cages. If we
phase out zoos, and end captive breeding, resources can be used to
protect habitats for the benefit of all fauna and flora.